Supreme Court To Hear Plea Seeking Ban On Sikh Jokes

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by advocate Harvinder Choudhry seeking a ban on jokes against the Sikh community. He filed a case in SC claiming that Sikh Community is being projected negatively due to the jokes that were passing on.

She fields the case seeking the ban on such websites that promote such ‘insensitive’ jokes and seeking prosecution under laws that carry a punishment of jail for six months to five years.

The petitioner said that such jokes that were doing round on many social network platforms project Sikhs as ‘unintelligent’, ‘foolish’, and ‘naïve’, making them an easy target of ridicule and racial abuse.

The panel of judges asked as to why she wants a ban on such jokes while the Sikh Community is named for a great sense of humor and they also enjoy such jokes.

Choudhary, who herself belongs to Sikh family said she too had been a target of ridicule and abuse because of such insensitive jokes. The apex court has asked an expert panel headed by former apex court judge HS Bedi to submit draft guidelines so that appropriate measures can be passed to prevent circulation of Sardar jokes on websites.

SC To Hear Plea Seeing Ban on Sikh Jokes

In July last year, a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked the panel to submit the guidelines after proper discussions and gave six weeks time to do so.

The bench asked the bench to go with the orders after hearing the counsel and many others like Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) that reportedly said that the community is being bullied and looked down by such jokes.

Supreme Court will now hear the plea seeking a ban on the websites that are circulating Sikh jokes.